5 tips for a well organized pantry

July 30, 2013 · by: Kim

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Home Depot & Rubbermaid, but all my opinions are my own. You know I’d have it no other way! #pmedia #AllAccessOrganizers

I love an organized pantry. LOVE! Unfortunately I’ve not been loving mine for a while now. I considered sharing a “before” picture of my pantry with you, but honestly I was embarrassed. Yep. It was that bad. See. I’m a baker so I have tons of baking supplies. You know. Sprinkles. Cookie cutters. Cake pans. Candies. Chocolate. And on and on. And it was in disarray.

Well… I guess I can hang my head and show you a bit of what it looked like…

What?! I’m NOT sharing a big picture of my shame… {smirk}. This is all my pride can take. You get it though right. It was a mess.

So here’s the deal. I know better. You get something out, you put it back. We tell our kids this exact thing all the time. Right! Well, now I’m going to lay my excuse on you. I’ve been working on this big project (can’t wait to share it with you) and my pantry has gotten a bit out of control. So I really needed to take the control back. When I’m organized my projects just flow better and are done sooner. So here we go.

My five top tips for organizing your pantry:

Empty the space – trust me. I know it’s a pain, but it’s amazing how energized to organize {grin} you are when you’re looking at a empty canvas.

Separate by type or use – while all your things are out on your kitchen floor, take the time to organize them either by what they are, or the item’s use. For my baking pantry I’ve organized mine by candies, sprinkles, tools, chocolates, cupcake tins, etc.

Keep heavy items low and light items high – I’m not short, but I’m not tall and I certainly don’t want to pull something heavy out on my head. Which, I have to admit was exactly what I’ve been doing. My cake pans, individually, are not heavy, but when you put them all in a basket (that they don’t fit in) and then try to pull out just what you need, or pull the whole thing out… well… it can be hazardous to your health!

Use containers that make staying organized easy – what I mean by this is, purchase containers that make it easy to “store–use–return” without much work. You might say, what’s the big deal… unstack the containers, pull out the container you need, pop the lid, store your items. Okay, so let’s get honest with each other. You and I both know that more often than not you will leave the ONE item that you needed to store on top of the stack telling yourself you’ll put it away when you have other things that need to be put away too. {knowing glare} You think I’m being judgemental. No ladies. I’m not. This is what I do myself and I know I’m not alone!

Label – I know what you’re thinking. It’s pretty, but I don’t have the time. Actually, I label because it forces me to consciously think “I’m misplacing this.” Nine out of 10 times, when I have labels I put things where they belong the first time. Plus, it doesn’t hurt when little people are helping you tidy up!

Okay, so I shared that my cake pans are a death trap. Just teetering above my head ready to fall. And actually they have a few times…

And this is how they look now! On the floor, per tip #3, and organized by size so I know exactly what I have at a glance.

Now, beyond my five tips, let me share with you my new favorite storage tub for my pantry.Rubbermaid just came out with these new All Access™ Organizers available at Home Depot. Want to know why I like them so much? THEY OPEN FROM THE FRONT!

Okay… this is just genius. Think about it. No more unstacking them to get that one thing out, or in. This new design will actually help you stay organized because you won’t have the excuse that the box you need is way on the bottom. Yep. I use that excuse too. {grin}

Another thing. I like to store fabrics and craft papers in tubs in my basement. Well, I like to see what is inside without opening it, but I need the color tubs so that the sun doesn’t fade them. Now I have the best of both worlds! I can see in and I just place the color side to the window!

The All Access™ Organizers are also perfect for closets, playrooms, laundry rooms or anywhere you need some storage. For example, my oldest tried to snitch my small tub for his LEGO collection. I won on the tug-of-war, but had to promise to go back and get more.

Share this:

About Kim

Kim Byers, creative director & owner of The Celebration Shoppe. Her work has been featured in Parents, Better Homes and Gardens, All You, Pregnancy, iVillage, Huffington Post and many others. Kim is also a contributing writer for Kellogg's, JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores, and World Market.